Current Issue

Hawarth’s Latatest Product Milestones

Michigan, US: Haworth, Inc celebrated new product introductions at an ‘Organic Workspace’ event in Essen, Germany, on October 19-20, 2009.

Organic Workspace is how Haworth describes its holistic approach to the dynamics affecting the working environment. It also describes the ability to create flexible, motivating and sustainable workspaces, which can be quickly and easily adapted to constantly changing organisational requirements.

Haworth refers to the Organic Workspace approach has “a dynamic process, and as with all things which undergo constant change, Haworth finds itself in a continuous learning curve, adapting its approach accordingly. Our focus rests on integration, adaptability and sustainability.”

"Many companies are very cautious when it comes to the acquisition of new office interiors as this is usually accompanied by high costs and reluctance to risk further investment. In addition, they are often unsure whether their requirements will be met," states Søren Trampedach, VP European Sales, Haworth Europe.

The concept is based on many years of experience as a full-range supplier of office workspaces, international knowledge as a global company and a universal approach to design.

The event launched the System 59 office seating, the Kiron desking system and a new colour and materials collection, as well as European introductions of the Very multi-task chair and LIM light. Haworth products from all over the world – such as Planes, Zody, System 89 and Tutti - were also incorporated into the event’s design concept.

The Haworth European event also included forums for dealers, clients and the A&D community on the company’s new approach to organic works spaces and a variety of knowledge topics. Attendees heard research findings and held discussions about attraction and retention of generation Y, sustainability certification for green building and organisational cultures.

System 59
(Available January 2010 onwards)

The new System 59, is the first Haworth family of chairs on the market with an Automatic Weight Control Mechanism, developed in-house by Haworth. At the same time, previously developed features such as the asymmetric lumbar support system (PAL-Back-System), first applied to the Zody_System 89 and the further-developed AIR-GO-PUR-Seat are also featured. "As our products become more intelligent, they also become more comfortable. Despite this, our System 59 can be found in the middle price segment," explains Product Marketing Manager, Andrea Demmerling, Haworth Europe.

The new family of chairs, with its straight and smooth design characteristics can be combined with the entire line-up. The new chairs can also be ordered with design backrest upholstery. In addition, Haworth has presented a new range of upholstery fabrics and colours which were selected according to the findings of market researchers. An attractive and sustainable addition to the materials collection is the E-Leather range which is fabricated from leather remnants and is visually indistinguishable from conventional leather.

Kiron
(Available February 2010 onwards)

German designer Andreas Struppler created together with the Haworth European development team a new work desk and storage programme which can merge into any environment. Commenting on Kiron, which was primarily designed for the northern European market, Cordula Bode, Product Manager of Haworth Germany states: "It is certainly our aim to develop products for the global market, which means we shall introduce the Kiron desk system to the North American market. We also heard that there is interest for the system in the Asian market."

It uses tabletops based on wood chip - a by-product which until recently was just disposed of. And along these lines, Haworth also uses aluminium as a sustainable material for their frames. A new design feature in the Kiron programme is the integration of table and storage space. As a result, the desk is placed directly in the storage and both become part of the entire configuration.

And at the recent 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament, Haworth unveiled customised on-court player's benches that provided ergonomic Zody seating for players between sets. Haworth has been a sponsor of ATP tennis in Shanghai for more than four years, the company said in a statement on October 23, 2009.

Haworth’s involvement with the Shanghai tennis tournament has included ergonomic courtside seating for VIP and government boxes. In cooperation with tournament organisers, Haworth also created the ideal player’s lounge at the 2009 event. Piloted in 2008, the lounge concept is based on and validated from data collected from players and their coaches. The player’s lounge is now permanent and will be used for Shanghai Master’s Series events going forward.

Video Contest Part Of Research For Learning Environments

Michigan, US: Herman Miller, Inc is introducing its first video contest targeting full-time students attending 2-or 4-year U.S. colleges or universities, the company said on January 25, 2010. The contest, titled "Hey, Where Do You Learn Best?" encourages students to document areas on or off campus that best support their learning.

"The reality is that learning can take place anywhere, so we hope to see a variety of entries that are creative, fun or serious. Overall, we want to give students a voice and have them share with us their favorite learning space and explain why it makes a difference," says Jeff Vredevoogd, Herman Miller's Director of Education Solutions.

Vredevoogd adds that the concept and results will be of great interest to campus leadership as well as faculty and students. "This contest will promote discussion about the rapidly changing needs of students and how higher education facilities can respond to those needs," he notes.

In addition, the company partnered with senior graphic design students at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to develop graphics for the contest website.

Barb Loveland, Interim Director of the Gwen Frostic School of Art at Western Michigan, pricesled the group of students who worked on the contest graphics and believes that it makes sense that students design for students. "This experience also allows students to learn something fun and build their portfolio, which will be helpful to them in the real world," she adds.

Contest entries will be accepted until March 26, 2010. Representatives from the company will select three finalists who best represent creativity, originality and appropriateness to the theme. First, second and third prize winners will receive Visa gift cards valued at US$2,500, US$1,500 and US$1,000 respectively.

Steelcase 3Q2009 Revenue Dips 24%

Michigan, US: Steelcase Inc reported break-even net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2010, in line with estimates the company communicated last quarter, it said in a press statement on December 17, 2009. In the third quarter of fiscal 2009, the company reported net income of US$400,000.

Third quarter revenue of US$616.1 million represented a decline of 24.1 percent compared to US$811.3 million in the prior year quarter. Revenue comparisons were impacted by approximately US$16 million of favourable currency translation effects compared to the prior year. Revenue declines occurred across most geographic markets, customer segments and product categories, but moderated compared to the last three quarters as the third quarter of the prior year marked the start of the current downturn in the office furniture industry.

"I am pleased we experienced another quarter of sequential revenue growth," said James P Hackett, president and CEO. "While the timing of a complete industry recovery remains difficult to predict, we have seen the seasonal trend in the second and third quarters, along with stabilising day-to-day order levels and the return of modest calendar year-end business, which provide further evidence that the first quarter of this fiscal year may have represented the low water mark for Steelcase in this recession."

"The benefits of our extensive cost reduction efforts in this recession are showing up in the positive operating results and improved cash position in the third quarter," said David C Sylvester, vice president and CFO. "In addition, the completion of the new US$125 million revolving credit facility serves to further strengthen our liquidity profile."

The company expects fourth quarter fiscal 2010 revenue to reflect a higher than normal seasonal decline compared to the third quarter and approximate US$570 million. The company reported revenue of US$654.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

Steelcase expects to report approximately break-even operating income (excluding an estimated US$6 million of restructuring costs) and approximately break-even net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

The company reported a net loss of US$65.7 million, or US$0.49 per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, which included after-tax restructuring costs of approximately US$11 million and non-cash impairment charges that had the effect of increasing the net loss by approximately US$50 million.

Hackett concluded, "Throughout this recession, we have remained focused on the eventual recovery in our industry by launching a variety of new insight-led products, strengthening our relationships with customers, architects and designers, and continuing to fund our growth strategies in the areas of healthcare, higher education and emerging markets."

SDA Programme Threatatens Wood Supply

Michigan, US: The US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently approved US$514 million in subsidies under the Department of Agriculture’s Biomass Crop Assistance Programme (BCAP). As now structured, BCAP will divert the US wood fibre supply from its current use in higher value composite wood products such as furniture and cabinets, to instead be used as fuel.

This is a direct threat to all industries that rely on composite panel products, and will hurt the US economy as well as the environment, BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association) said in a statement on January 19, 2010. “With Congress reconvening this month, we are asking for their direct intervention to suspend the BCAP programme until a well-considered regulation can be developed by USDA that amends the list of materials eligible for the subsidy,” BIFMA stated.

The 2008 Farm Bill states that renewable biomass includes materials that “would not otherwise be used for higher-value products. ” BCAP's inclusion of wood used for higher value products is contrary to the intent of Congress and represents a fatal flaw in the way the programme has been crafted by USDA, in BIFMA’s opinion.

The eligible materials list for the BCAP subsidy includes wood now used to make furniture, cabinets, floor and many other consumer products - wood needed to operate those businesses.

“BCAP has been rushed though without any consideration of its unintended consequences, and these include environmental considerations as well as loss of jobs. As structured today, BCAP will serve to increase the US contribution to global warming instead of mitigating it. Wood is a great natural resource. If existing industries that are using it responsibly suffer as a result of BCAP and manufacturing plants close, the ripple affect on the economy will be enormous. Consumers will have fewer choices, thousands of jobs will be threatened, and less environmentally friendly materials will be substituted,” BIFMA argued.

“BIFMA and its members ask that Congress immediately suspend the BCAP so that USDA can amend the list of materials eligible for the subsidy by removing materials destined for higher value products.”

Established in 1973, BIFMA’s mission is to lead, advocate, inform and develop standards for the North American office and institutional furniture industry. As a not-for-profit organization BIFMA provides a forum for its members to cooperate and collaborate on appropriate industry issues. It develops voluntary product and industry standards that support safe, healthy and sustainable environments; publishes key industry statistics; advocates for legislation and government regulation that have a direct impact on the health of the industry.

Fantoni Featured atat Washington Solar Decathlon 2009

Udine, Italy: The Fantoni group strengthens its commitment to the environment, joining forces with the University of Puerto Rico to create a low energy consumption house, also with the use of radiant and sound-deadening systems.

The fourth edition of the Solar Decathlon took place from October 8-21, 2009, in Washington. This event, which awards a prize to the best design for an eco-sustainable house, was open to all universities throughout the world.

The University of Puerto Rico created an energy-independent residential unit with the cooperation of the Fantoni group, in particular its local agency Eurospace. Participation in the event was encouraged by Mark Hopkins, the Obama administration’s International Energy Efficiency Director, who pressed for the collaboration following a meeting with the Fantoni Group in June 2008.

The location of this fourth edition, the Washington National Mall, hosted university projects based on the same objective: to create a highly energy-efficient residential unit powered by solar energy, but also including the best of home design.

The new Puerto Rican project, named CASH – Caribbean Affordable Solar FantoniHouse – offers the possibility of living in the Caribbean in a house that is comfortable and has low environmental impact. This is made possible by Topakustik and Climacustic. Sound-deadening and radiant panels, as wekk as sound-deadening system were installed to improve acoustics in the veranda of the Solar House, eliminate reverberation and absorb excessive noise due to the way the panel is machined and to the insertion of suitable fibre mats which meet all the requirements dictated by the aesthetic-acoustic design and geometry of the location.

Climacustic is on the other hand present inside the building, where it can best perform its sound-deadening and radiant functions, in particular air-conditioning. The panel is in fact a system consisting of a sound-deadening face and a radiant part in which fluid circulates.

The application of a radiant and sound-deadening system allowed the university of Puerto Rico to submit a project suited to the Caribbean island environment, which not only an improved appearance of the house, but also providing dual comfort – acoustic and above all environmental – achieved via the combination of solar and Climacustic panels.

Interstuhl, Kimball Office To Jointly Establish North US Sales Network

London, UK: The European chair specialist and North American office furniture manufacturer will be establishing a joint North American sales network. Interstuhl continues to expand its transatlantic presence through this partnership.

Interstuhl, one of Europe's leading chair manufacturers, announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Kimball Office, one of the biggest office furniture manufacturers in North America. This alliance should help improve Interstuhl's global market coverage, a press statement said on July 27, 2009.
Kimball hereby assumes overall responsibility for the marketing and sales of selected interstuhl products in North America. The products will be sold under the new brand label: "Kimball Office I Interstuhl".

"This alliance greatly increases our punch on the American market", explains Helmut Link, CEO Sales at Interstuhl. "This partnership with Kimball brings us a sales team with over 100 salespersons and an America-wide network of specialist dealers in one fell swoop."

Kimball will position the selected range of products - Silver, Mitos, Hero, Axos, Xantos and Fit - in precisely defined target markets. It was decided to focus on these selected premium products in view of the popularity of interstuhl amongst architects and its design competence.

"This partnership is of great importance for both companies with an eye on the future", says Jeff Fenwick, Vice President/General Manager of Kimball Office. "It combines the know-how of interstuhl as a chair specialist with the sales power and popularity of Kimball on the American market. Together we can offer our customers a whole new, improved standard in terms of ergonomics and innovative chairs."